


Flowers In The Snow

by PeculiarFae



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Blood and Injury, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, M/M, Mentions of Blood, My First AO3 Post, No Beta, Subaki’s overthinking mind, not too graphic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23274532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeculiarFae/pseuds/PeculiarFae
Summary: "I haven't seen snow since the winters at Castle Shirasagi. The bright red camellias were beautiful against the snow... I wonder if I would be as striking if I were to fall here in battle. Not that one so perfect as I stands any chance of that."
Relationships: Tsubaki | Subaki/Zero | Niles
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	1. Crushed Flower

The sky was a wash of pale oranges fading out to a deep indigo. The sinking sun, a sliver of a fingernail on the horizon. It was beautiful in the raw natural way that never got old for Subaki . If you had seen a pegasi from the ground in the halflight of a sunset. You'd see a white flank catch in the fading light. It made for a decent target Subaki thought grimly. It also made it harder for him to see anything on the ground as well.

Not for the first time Subaki cursed all manner of archers vehemently. His stomach twisted like an angry bird trying to escape it's cage. They were losing altitude fast. The noise was horrendous. Erratic flapping and the icy wind that cut through his clothes, forcing tears to stream up his face- abusing his ears. He could feel them popping painfully as the decent sped up. It was too dark to catch a glimpse of the red streaking white feathers but he was sure it was there. The sound of arrows burying themselves in flesh was unmistakable.

Thoughts whipped through his head one after the other but the impending sense of doom overpowered them all. The ground was rushing up to meet them and Subaki squeezed his eyes shut.

He didn't remember hitting the ground. 

Pain brought his mind back to some kind of focus. When he next opened his eyes it was dark and little bursts of light flurried in and out of his vision. His whole body felt as if it would break if he moved an inch. His cheek was numb, pressed against the snowy ground. When he tried to shift he realized his pegasus had fallen atop his left leg. It would be a miracle if most of the bones in it weren't shattered. Softly he whispered her name but if she was alive he couldn't tell in the dark and there was no response. 

It dawned on Subaki it was only a matter of time until the enemy that shot him down found him if they didn't assume the fall had killed him. The naginata that he'd been carrying was long gone and he couldn't remember when he'd let it go. One by one he flexed each of his fingers. They all moved with a bit of effort. Good. Next was trying to shove at the flank of his fallen mount as he tried to extract his leg. The effort didn't lend much but another excruciating wave of pain that had him clenching his teeth and groaning. 

The only sound in the woods was his own labored breathing. He was all alone. Just that small effort had taken most of his energy. It was all he could do to lay against the snow and try not to attract any attention. Slowly his body began going numb and even the harsh shivers wracking through him seemed to calm. His eyes were so heavy. Something in him felt like it was giving out. 

Subaki couldn't be sure how much time had passed when he next opened his eyes. Whether he had just blinked or had been sleeping. This time it was soft footsteps crunching through the snow that caught his attention. It took more effort than he cared to admit to tilt his head back. There wasn't much he could do to defend himself in this state but he wouldn't be caught unaware, he wouldn't cower. He forced his heavy eyes open. A dark sillouette became visible in blurry relief against the pale snow. A bow gripped in their hand. 

_Are you the one who shot me down?_ Subaki wondered. But he kept the question to himself. It was surprising that the archer continued walking toward him steadily, even picking up their pace. With their long range weapons they prefered to kill from a certain distance away. Unless this one wanted some kind of information from him, or preferred to torture their victims. 

The man, he could tell now that the archer was close enough- knelt next to him. His face swam in and out of focus. The white hair caught in the moonlight and Subaki stared incredulously.

"Niles?" He whispered, sure this was some sort of fever dream.


	2. Frosted Flower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Niles?" He whispered, sure this was some sort of fever dream.

“Niles?" He whispered, sure this was some sort of fever dream. At worst he’d be answered with an arrow to the heart.

But sure enough the archer's lips twisted into his usual smirk. Though maybe it was the darkness but it didn’t seem to reach his eyes.

Callused fingers brushed over his cheeks, leaving a lingering burn against his freezing skin. "Hello Mr. Perfect, you've fallen quite a ways off your high horse."

His is voice was one of the most welcome sounds Subaki had heard all night, he might even be able forgive the terrible quip.

"How clumsy." Subaki murmured in response, both an admonishment to himself and a self-self-deprecating joke. His eyes slipped shut in his relief. It had been some time since he’d seen the other man. While their kingdom’s armies camped together they had become accustomed to each other’s company for a short while. Despite the rocky start.

There was a pressure against his skin. He blearily opened his eyes again in answer to insistent tapping at his cheek. "Can you move your neck?" Niles asked.

"It's intact I think." He forced out, his tongue thick and unwieldy in his mouth.

He didn't quite catch what was said to him next. His brain just couldn’t seem to catch up. There were fingers, prodding at his neck and gently turning his head from side to side.

Then Niles’ hands are gone and he’s is lifting up and pushing at his fallen pegasus. The release of pressure is enough for Subaki to gather enough energy to drag himself forwards with his elbows.

He couldn’t quite stop the strangled cry escaping his own lips as the blood began pumping back into his ruined leg however. Any comforting numbness from before was replaced by the blood pounding in his ears and jagged edges of white-hot pain racing through his body. He didn’t get far before collapsing back against the snow, crimson hair loose and sticking to his face. The pain meant he was alive Subaki reminded himself. Broken and hardly able to breath but alive.

“Up you go now.” Arms curl under his armpits, lifting and then he's hefted over Niles' shoulder as if he weighs little to nothing. His chin resting on the dark navy cloak Niles always wore.

An important thought flickering through his mind has him forcing himself to speak once more. "The archers... in the woods..."

"I took care of them." Niles assures him, his voice has a cool and certain edge to it, leaving no room for doubt.

He can't gather up enough energy to care for much else after that besides continuing to breath through the insistent pain.

Its a silent journey through the woods. Hard and slow, Niles carries Subaki as steadily as he can and Subaki attempts to keep quiet. And if there are other bodies strewn about in the dark woods, Subaki is too out of it to see any of them.  
Finally they come to a stop. Niles painstakingly lowers him into a small tent. When he’s properly laid out across the bedroll Niles slips back out.

Subaki can hardly stay awake, his world is fading in and out. But it's not long until a warm, orange light begins flickering outside the open tent. He is reminded of the sunset blazing across the sky as he fell. Its likely his pegasus is dead and he feels a seed of anger, pounding to the beat of roaring blood in his ears.

Niles interrupts his thoughts, crawling in with a small pot and some rags. Steam rises from it.

"You're blue." Niles answers the question he hadn't asked, dipping a rag in the warm water and pressing it against his nose and lips. His lips did feel like stone.  
Frostbite. His face was more than likely a mess of reds and blues where he had been pressed into the snow. He frowned at the thought. The cloth burned wherever it came in contact with his skin. Though in reality he knew it couldn't be that hot. After rewetting it Niles moved on to his ears. He was being uncharacteristically delicate with him. Subaki wasn't used to it but he certainly wouldn’t complain.

"Why are you here?" Subaki wondered aloud.

"Scouting mission. There are a few roving bands of rebels that have been causing trouble, attacking travelers and the like. Lord Leo sent me out. I suspect that’s why you were in the area as well?" Niles patted his face with a dry rag now, wiping away the excess fluid.

"I was careless." Subaki admitted quietly. “I suppose you enjoy seeing me make such a huge mistake.” He pressed his lips into a small smile to soften the accusation.

Niles is quiet as he slips off Subaki's gloves not even a single jab at the failure. He begins working on removing his clothes methodically. "You're lucky, it doesn't look like any of their arrows struck you." He offered, not unkindly.  
Subaki stared upwards with a doleful expression, neither helping nor hindering as the other man attempted to treat his wounds. The area around the borders had been dangerous lately. Fraught by angry remnants of wartime ruffians and bandits.

Luckily nothing had been punctured Niles said, he wasn't bleeding despite a few superficial scrapes. Everything ached. Beside his broken leg he may also have a few broken ribs to match.

Niles tied his leg to a splint and elevated it with a few rolled blankets. More blankets pulled up to his chin and tucked around him. The flurry of activity was comforting and he found himself laying silent in a daze while the other man worked.

Finally Niles settled in beside him. The small fire outside had died down to a few glowing embers he noted before the tent was latched closed.

It was even darker than it had been outside. The whole tent smelled stongly of Niles. An earthy scent that seemed to cling to him no matter the length of his time living in the Castle Krakenberg. Subaki turned his face toward the direction Niles laid beside him. "Thank you." He breathed, feeling it easier to say since he wasn’t able to see the other man’s expression.

It was silent for a few moments. Callused fingers brushed the hair back from his face. "I guess this means you owe me." He replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You probably noticed by now, this takes place after Nohr and Hoshido are at peace.  
> This chapter is kind of just a ton of softness because yes. Sorry the chapters are kind of short I’m still getting the hang of this writing fan fiction business.

**Author's Note:**

> This is really the first time I've tried writing fanfiction and actually succeeded in like... 9 years to be honest. Please be gentle. I really love this ship and just wanted to do my part to add some more stories to the tag. I'm a sucker for wounded/ hurt/comfort stories


End file.
